Category

Advent 4C – 2015 Deacon Buck Close Meeting Mary The gospels of Advent are presented in reverse chronological order. We start on Advent 1 with the apocalyptic vision of the end times. Then on Advent 2 and 3 we go back to around the years 27-28 AD to consider the ministry of that...

Year C, Advent 3 Philippians 4:4-7 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let all men know your forbearance…Have no anxiety about anything…” Anyone hearing these words out of context might assume that their author did nothing but lounge around all day nibbling on...

Advent 1C Deacon Buck Close 29 November 2015 This morning I am going to treat you to three mini homilies. I didn’t do this intentionally. It just happened. The first is my rather negative take on apocalyptic literature. The second is an advertisement for the church calendar, and...

Year B, Christ the King John 18:33-37 The feast of Christ the King speaks directly to the problem of violence and political power, a problem that has plagued society from its beginnings to the age of terrorism we are living through today. In the Gospel lesson appointed for this...

On Saturday last weekend at diocesan convention, I joined with the bishop, clergy, and lay leaders in celebrating the 225th anniversary of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island. The bishop chose as the readings for that convention Eucharist the same readings we just heard, which...

The Widow’s Mite Deacon Buck Close November 8, 2015 Mark 12: 38-44 For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on. Today’s gospel is the nearly ideal text for a stewardship sermon. But this...

A sermon on Mark 10:35-45 and Hebrews 5:1-10 on the 21st Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 24B in the Zabriskie Memorial Church of Saint John the Evangelist on 18 October 2015 Ambition: you either have too much of it or not enough. Those who have too much are criticized for their...

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you have set in their courses, What is man that you should be mindful of him? Psalm 8 Today we celebrate God’s glorious order of creation coming ourselves in wonder, and later bringing our beloved...

The Calling of Matthew – The Feast of St. Matthew Deacon Buck Close 20 September 2015 He saw a man sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him. The great Renaissance painter, Caravaggio, immortalized this...

Holy Cross Day 13 September 2015 John 12:31-36a Holy Cross Day is not typically a day on which the church celebrates baptisms, but it is, in fact, very appropriate to do so, because baptism does not make any sense apart from the cross. In baptism, we are buried with Christ in his...